Posted on 09/11/2004 2:41:47 PM PDT by airedale
Someone else mentioned a website that is dedicated tot the IBM Selectric Composer. The link above will take you to that website. Besides being around four times more expensive to purchase than a regular IBM Selectric the website had a bit of information about the IBM Selectric Composer that hasn't been mentioned in anything I've seen so far. It seems you have to type everything twice perfectly when you use the Composer. Here is that section from the ibmcomposer.org website: click here
"The first IBM Composer was the IBM "Selectric" Composer announced in 1966. It was a hybrid "Selectric" typewriter that was modified to have proportional spaced fonts. It is 100% mechanical and has no digital electronics. Since it has no memory, the user was required to type everything twice. While typing the text the first time, the machine would measure the length of the line and count the number of spaces. When the user finished typing a line of text, they would record special measurements into the right margin of the paper. Once the entire column of text was typed and measured, it would then be retyped, however before typing each line, the operator would set the special justification dial (on the right side) to the proper settings, then type the line. The machine would automatically insert the appropriate amount of space between words so that all of the text would be justified."
Now the guy who supposedly prepared this documents per his son didn't type. Who in the world that isn't an expert typist and didn't have a specific reason in document production is going to type ordinary documents twice? The only reason I can think of is that either your in advertising and you need it for an ad or your publishing a book.
Well JFK's assassin had a magic bullet. I guess that Dan Ratherbiased's source could have a magic typewriter.
That would end it once and for all, in CBS's favor.
But don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
*sigh*
The "type twice" feature only applied if you wanted to create right-justified documents. It does not apply in this case where the documents had ragged right margins.
Please, is there any way we can create some sort of clearninghouse for these already-hashed out theories so we don't have to create new threads every time someone happens onto one that they didn't happen to read about yet on FreeRepublic (but has already been discussed nonetheless)?
Not to mention, he was typing on a machine that cost about as much as a Chrysler
Not necessarily. The signatures are obvious fakes.
Somebody else already has, and the result is...
Typewriter Expert can't duplicate Guard memos using IBM Composer
proportional spacing and justification are two different things.
The early proportional spacing typewriters basically had a variable carriage advance dependant on the letter typed, for instance a "w" would cause a four or five times greater carriage advance than an "i" would.
The justification technique mentioned here was a method to stretch the entire line content from margin to margin by padding spaces between words and, if necessary, stretching words.
A typewriter with justification capabilities doesn't necessarily have a proportional font.
The guy obviously knew that this would someday be an important historical document, so he went the extra mile to produce a quality memo on state-of-the-art equipment. Why can't anyone else see this?
There still needs to be evidence that he had access to this kind of typewriter. Has anyone looked into what was being used by the TANG in the early 70's?
But it wasn't done on a Composer!!
I really think we need a re-enactment of the memos to show how foolish this is. Then we need to know about the price of such a machine, etc.
You know what's funny about all of this? The people at CBS are such idiots that they thought they could just use an MS Word document and there would be no problem. They thought they could get by by merely having Mately authenticate 1 one fo the four memos-- the one with the May deadline for Bush to get his physical (but that's total garbage because he had until the last day of July). They didn't bone up on TANG regulations, they didn't do basic homework on this. This is messy and there is no explanation but that they wanted to do damage to Bush.
These cable shows really need to get an expert or Hugh Hewitt (uninterrupted) to talk about this. Some of the people on don't know the million reasons why this is horsesh*t.
someone needs to get a picture of Geraldo Rivera in Al Capone's Vault next to Dan Rather LOL
...reading Hitler's diary.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1212935/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213000/posts
PING! Image request, see #13 and 14.
Not even close. I happen to think (after reading the ENTIRE 100+page manual) that the composer COULD (if a Times Roman font - or similar - was available). But that doesn't go nearly far enough. What are the chances that a Guard unit had one? As noted, they cost as much as a new car (and a pretty nice one at that). Ok, so maybe they had one? If so, why is the only document prepared on it a couple personal notes for Killian? Especially if (as described by his family) he couldn't type? It wasn't an easy unit to use. So a unit secretary typed them for him but none of the other Unit records (including those with his signature) are from that typewriter? The memo's weren't all dated from the same weekend - surely if you spent $4000 on a typewriter it would get USED?
Info posted 2 days ago (bold per original post):
"Since it has no memory, the user was required to type everything twice."
YET ANOTHER EXPERT, MORE ARGUMENTS AGAINST (CBS Documents)
Posted by PAR35 to Mr Ramsbotham
On News/Activism 09/09/2004 3:53:27 PM CDT · 42 of 77
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1211280/posts
Actually Geraldo is less offensive than Dan "D*cko" Rather.
That's about as plausible an explanation as one can come up with. Or, maybe, the source had a hundred monkeys with typewriters in a room for years and eventually one of them typed the memo.
ROTFLMAO! It's so ooooooooooooooooooover.
They both have the same amount of credibility... which in none. ok... ok... i'd send Geraldo to a war zone :^D
Or centered text using proportional fonts which two of the memos had.
Not to say I believe any of this, but back in the olden days, they had secretaries.
When this is all said and done, Dan Rather won't even be able to get work as a substitute host on Al Jazeera.
The man didn't have a home office either. Since this was a memo to himself, where did it come from?
He'll be MORE offensive if he wears those stupid yellow rainslicker pants again, when he serves as the FOX "Danger Boy" during the upcoming hurricane.
Who'd have guessed that Michael Moore would come across as more trustworthy than Dan Rather in this day and age?!
Nah.
Dan makes Geraldo look like Jesus Christ. Dan is EVIl, comprende?
Good point, yes, you're right. Still, this has been covered before.
Wrong. It's been tried & could not be done. Even an IBM composer expert could not recreate the CBS memos.
Proof Here. It's not possible to recreate these on any typwiter avaialable the early 1970's.
Not Possible. No chance. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. It cannot be done.
"proportional spacing and justification are two different things."
Don't forget the kerning....typewriters don't do kerning
Si, como no! In fact, here's a picture of Dan's hat... 
Check this post.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1213368/posts
LOL
That's GREAT!!!
Yuppers I remember it well. I had one of these lovely typewriters while working as the secretary for VP of a company. I hated the thing. By the way, we still used shorthand back then too. (g)
The IBM Executive Typewriter did have proportional spacing but couldn't produce subscript or superscript. It used a regular moveable platon (sp?) that moved side to side while each key raised up to strike the page.
The IBM Selectric Typewriter sold for about $400-$450 for a plain vanilla machine. The US Government received a discount. The Element or 'golf ball' could be ordered with specialized symbols like superscript or subscript but each symbol added cost and the Govt. rarely ordered extra bells and whistles.
Somebody else already has, and the result is...
Typewriter Expert can't duplicate Guard memos using IBM Composer
Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that.
Yeah but guess what, I didn't see it. I don't spend all of free time FReeping off so cut us some slack.
yeah but then they'd have to turn up with the originals. photo copies won't match.
Sorry, no. It's been tried, yes. But was it tried with the correct font ball? We don't know if there WAS one or not. The author of the piece picked (perhaps) what he thought was closest, but there's no evidence his supply of fonts (they were VERY expensive) was comprehensive. The fact it didn't work with one particular ball does not show that it COULD not work with a different one. And an additional ball could have had the special "th" character. I'm not saying I believe it could be done. I'm saying we don't know with certainty yet. The chances, though, are well above "nada". But again, it doesn't MATTER. Even if it COULD be done - what possible story is there for HOW it came to be? This office just HAPPENED to have the equipment to produce something that Word does automatically? And if they DID - they never used it for anything ELSE? We have DOZENS of documents from that command and should be able to get hundreds more (plenty with Killian's signature on them indicating they were at least prepared FOR him if not BY him). Will ANY of them share the indications on these memos? And this completely leaves off all of the dozen-plus errors that make it unlikely to have been prepared by a military secretary of the time.
Look, my criticism is directed at the creator of this thread and those who would create other vanity threads with the latest little tidbit they've heard. Feel free to discuss once the damage is done.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213319/posts
Absolutely, if you can show kerning, it ain't a typewritten document.
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